


Only You

by LegolasLovely



Category: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, John Thornton - Freeform, Married Couple, Married Life, Richard Armitage - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 05:43:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20652146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegolasLovely/pseuds/LegolasLovely
Summary: Just reader taking care of her husband, because poor John Thornton needs to be loved dammit.





	Only You

She sat alone in their bed, reading by the low flickering candlelight. The dull rays of sun had vanished long ago and she knew the night had grown into its late hours. When she was content, she closed her book and started down the hall with a tea tray and a large, newly lit candle in hand.

She silently entered the study. He was standing stiffly, leaning one elbow against the brick of the fireplace. His long fingers covered his eyes in tired thought. Even with his back turned to her, she could see he was still fully dressed from his day at the mill. He only noticed her presence when the room was flooded with light from the fresh candles.

He turned to her. “My love, I’m sorry, my mind won’t rest enough for sleep. I am buried with work.”

She slid between him and his desk. “I know, John. It’s alright. But the day has long been over, you should be comfortable as you work in your own house.”

She gently pulled out the knot out of the worn, black cravat around his neck with her pale fingers. Her soft touch sent his eyes closed and his limbs weak. Next, she unfastened his vest, taking care of the buttons. It was easily slipped off his shoulders and set aside. His puffy, white undershirt, she pulled and untucked, leaving it loose around his neck.

With his closed eyes, he heard his desk chair pull across the floor. She set him into it as a mother sets her sleeping baby into a crib. She knelt before him and untied his shoes, pulling them off one after the other. They were placed beneath the pile of discarded items which she would take to Dixon to be washed and shined for the morning that was only a few hours away.

She poured him a cup of tea and straightened his papers. Her lithe fingers caressed his thick black hair, rousing him. “Do you need anything else, my love?”

He hummed. “Only you.”

She took his stubbled, dirty chin in her fingers. “I will still be here when you are finished.” She kissed his lips. Oh, how he loved her. “Take care not to sit here all night. Our bed is cold without you.”

With that, she left the room, leaving him refreshed enough to finish his work speedily but dutifully in order to return to her.


End file.
